August 14th, 2007
I Got A New Camera

I've basically abandoned blogging. On several different occasions I've said that I would start blogging again, but I never do. It's not that I don't want, I'm just tired. I worked my ass off on this film for over 2 years and I need a break. Lately I've been catching up on all things ON DEMAND. Today I watched LORD OF WAR and WHEN STAND UP STOOD. I also caught the season premiere of WEEDS and CALIFORNICATION. Both were excellent. I'm obsessed with HBO and Showtime television series. I've watched every epsiode of THE SOPRANOS, BIG LOVE, JOHN FROM CINCINNATI and ENTOURAGE this year. Only three epsiodes of ENTOURAGE left. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. ENTOURAGE is the best show on television by far.

Anyway, I've been meaning to post something about my new camera. I was looking for a digital SLR camera for a while and I found the perfect one. The Nikon D40X takes amazing photos. You can't go wrong with a 10.2 megapixel camera under $800 bucks. Check out some recent photos below...

My dog Bailey. She's crazy...

A flower...

A flower with a bug on it...

Tim and Harry showing love. You might remember Harry from my first film FAILURE.

Ted Hudson backstage at THE SAINT in Asbury Park, NJ.

Crazy bird from Puerto Rico.

Jenny posing before a large body of water called the Atlantic.

El Castillo San Felipe del Morro (Puerto Rico)

I was obsessed with these lookouts.

Jordan in motion.

Mr. Lizard.

February 13th, 2007
I'm Back...I Swear

So I keep saying that I'm going to start working on this blog again. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of things to do for the film. I even wrote a really long blog about a month ago and never posted it. Now it's kind of pointless. You've probably noticed that the website has been growing lately. New sections, photos, and video have been added. We've also added a myspace page for the film. Just this weekend we added the trailer for the film. All versions on this site are in Quicktime format. Apple rocks!!! The trailer has been added to YouTube and myspace, but to see the largest and best quality click the TRAILER button to your left.

Last week we got some great news. We've been selected as 1 of 10 films in the feature film competition at the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival. We're all very excited about the invitation. I was there with my first film FAILURE in 2004. The festival is one of the best and I can't wait to go back to Phoenix and screen my first feature film. GOLDEN DAYS is a complete 180 from FAILURE and I'm excited to see the reaction to the film.

The band is currently on tour with Blue October. They crashed their van the other day. Well, Dave and Ted crashed the van. Something to do with snow. I spoke to Alex today as he was getting lunch. As I'm talking to him he says "Hold on. Can I get a so and so (some kind of sandwich) with an apple...Alex...to go." I was like "Are you at Panera?" He just laughed and was like "Yeah, how did you know?" I have the ability to listen to small amounts of info and know exactly what's going on. My girlfriend's two cousins were having a conversation one day as they looked at a magazine. I was across the room eating a donut and overheard their conversation. Transcipt is below.

JEN
Oh I love her.

ANDY
Yeah she was in my favorite movie. Ya know...the book?

JEN
Which one?

ANDY
The one with her and uh...

JEN
Doors...something?

Chris chimes in from the other room.

CHRIS
Great Expectations.

Jen and Andy look at Chris with amazement.

ANDY
There's absolutely...you had no...how the?

Chris continues to eat his donut.

December 20th, 2006
I'm Sick

I can't hear anything. My head feels like it's in a vice grip. I want to go home. Instead I'm at work making everyone else sick. I went to the doctors yesterday and saw a sign that I thought was humorous. See below.

November 27th, 2006
Remember Me???

Hi Guys. So...you've probably been wondering "whatever happened to that film GOLDEN DAYS?" Well, it's been a busy couple of months. I basically needed to focus on the film. I had somewhere around 140 hrs of footage to log in. It took me over 2 months to get everything on 3 hard drives. At the moment I have something like 1500 Gigs of footage. After that, I had to edit the film. I had less than 2 months to get a rough cut together before we submitted to Sundance and Slamdance. It came down to the last day, but I was able to get a rough cut submitted. It was a long 4 month process that left me feeling pretty exhausted. I worked all day at my job in advertising and then worked til 5:00 AM every night on the film. I was averaging something like 5 hrs of sleep a night. So when I finished the rough cut I didn't look at it again for a of couple weeks. I'd had it with the film.

So where are we today? I'm still working on the film. I took a break and really got back into it a few weeks ago. The film is currently running 1 hr 33 min. Perfect time for a documetary film. Hopefully in the next few months we'll be premiering at a film festival. And that's about it.

Other news? Digital Content Producer Magazine did an article on my first film FAILURE a while back. I was so busy I never posted anything about it. There's a photo in the article that shows me filming Alex (lead singer of The Damnwells) during a shoot we did in Chicago. The footage I'm shooting in the picture made it's way into GOLDEN DAYS. You can read the article by clicking the link below.

Digital Content Producer Article

Also, I posted some new videos in the past couple of months. Check out the EPK Video I did for the release of Air Stereo and a clip of the band playing "I Am A Leaver" live in the studio. Links are below...

EPK Video

I Am A Leaver

I think that's it for now. Keep checking back for updates. Things should be picking up now that the film is essentially done.

-Chris

PS - FAILURE is always available at CustomFlix and Amazon. :)

July 10th, 2006
It's Been A While...

To Gilly, my Uncle John, and the 3 other people reading this blog...sorry for the lack of blogs in the last 2 month. I'll pretend like you guys don't know this already, but I broke my hand. My girlfriend nearly burnt my house down (total accident), but I was having a really bad day and decided to act as if I was a 16-year-old moron on steroids and punched my house. That resulted in breaking my 5th metacarpal. That means I broke my hand. It hurt. It cost me $250 to get the hand fixed with insurance and $50 to get the house fixed without insurance. Needless to say, I'm an idiot.

Other than that I've been busy trying to get the film ready for Sundance submission. We have a little over 10 weeks left til the deadline. Not sure if we'll make, but I gotta try.

I plan to update this as much as I can, but the majority of my free time is going to editing.

-Chris

May 3rd, 2006
Non-GOLDEN DAYS Related Update

Hello everyone. Just posting a quick update. I've been busy lately. I haven't had much time to work on GOLDEN DAYS. My first film, FAILURE, premiered on IFC (Independent Film Channel) last Monday. A few days later Apple (those computer guys) release a huge article about the film. They also did a bit about the upcoming Damnwells film. So I've been busy updating websites and answering emails. I even recieved some hate mail. I'm thinking about posting one email from some jackass UCLA film student who decided to take time out of his day to tell me "what film should be." Pretty sad when people can't focus on their own careers and decide to spend their time bashing others. But like they say "Opinions are like assholes...everyones got one."

Other than that...I go back to work on GOLDEN DAYS tonight and FAILURE will be playing on IFC all month long. Check it out if you get a chance.

Vist the IFC TV Schedule for local listing at www.ifctv.com.

There's also a quick list of dates/times to see FAILURE on IFC at our home site www.lastweekendfilms.com. These times are for the east coast. We had friends on the west coast who missed the film because the times were different, so check your local listings.

To read the "Apple FAILURE Article" visit the apple website at www.apple.com/pro.

-Chris

April 4th, 2006
Footage From The Troubadour

Got a little present for you guys. I started to import the footage from last weeks show at The Troubadour. The show was so great I had to post a few clips. Dan Layus from Augustana got on stage and performed "Bad Things" with The Damnwells. It's was amazing. What's even more amazing is that I recorded not only the live audio from the show, but also the board feed. What does that mean? It means the vocals are really really clear when you mix them together. Unfortunately, I didn't get a board feed for Augustana's show. Therefore, the audio for their clip of "Feel Fine" is a little distorted. The band also played really loud so...

We shot both shows and both bands put on amazing performances. Once again, both bands performed The Damnwells song "Assholes." And I gotta tell you, it was the best performance to date. Unfortunately, you're gonna have to wait for the film to see it. :)

Click on the images below to see the clips. You'll need Quicktime 7. It's free, so upgrade if you haven't already.

- Chris

The Damnwells w/Dan Layus
"Bad Things "

Augustana
"Feel Fine "

March 20th, 2006
The Damnwells and Augustana Play A**holes

I have a request from a Miss Lodrina out in Boston, MA, who says she wants to see The Damnwells play "Assholes" with Augustana. Hmmm...read that last sentence again. Sounds kinda creepy huh?

Anyway...I am here to fulfill your dreams. Or at least digitize a video clip for you. Click the image below to watch The Damnwells and Augustana play THE SONG "Assholes" at The Knitting Factory last Monday night. Unfortunately, I shot the perfomance from the balcony and the lighting wasn't as good from that angle. For this reason, I have created a larger than usual video clip for your viewing pleasure.

Don't forget to visit Augustana at www.augustanamusic.com and check out their new album All the Stars and Boulevards. And if you are obsessed with myspace like the rest of the free world, become their friend at www.myspace.com/augustana.

Did I mention you could also become friends with The Damnwells at www.myspace.com/thedamnwells?

I know...it's a lot of shameless plugging. But at least I'm not trying to whore myself out and sell you a copy of my last film which you can buy at www.failure-movie.com.

- Chris

March 15th, 2006
Alex and I Go To Jail...Almost

Things have been busy around here lately, but I'm taking a few minutes to tell a funny story. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Alex and I nearly got arrested in Philadelphia. Well...here it is.

After the show at the TLA, we decided it would be best if we all went next door to a local bar and had a few drinks. Well...a few drinks turned into too many to drive. As the bar closed and we were being pushed out the door, we decided the best thing to do would be to go to Pat's for a cheesesteak. Being the responsible person that I am, I decided it would be best if Alex drove. Now, he had only had 2 or 3 drinks...that I remember. But he had just had one a minute or so before we left the bar. Which is a bad thing to do. The laws are so strict that taking a sip of a Malibu Bay Breeze and driving within 12 hours could send you to jail.

So...we get into my car (convertible) and I put down the top. I figured it made sense. It was about 30 degrees outside. I guess it looked stupid. Especially when Alex made a right turn down a one way street the wrong way. So lets recap...it's 2:30 AM in Philadelphia, 2 idiots are driving a convertible sports car with the top down, it's 30 degrees outside, and the driver has made right turn down a one street the wrong way. It took about a millisecond for the cop, who was coming down the one way street the RIGHT WAY, to turn on his lights. Luckily the streets were packed with cars, so we just parked the car in the middle of the road facing the cops. As if this isn't bad enough, it gets worse. The police come up and ask Alex for his license. Unfortunately, Alex didn't have his license with him. He lost his wallet!!! As Alex is trying to show the one police officer his passport, the other officer is screaming at me and asking why I'm not driving. I try to explain that I had a few drinks and I didn't think I should be operating a motor vehicle. He screamed at me again and I began to blurt out "YES, I'M DRUNK, I'M DRUNK, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" It doesn't take much for me to crack.

So here's where things turn in our favor. As I hand my registration and insurance card to the cop, I also hand him 2 family member PBA cards. It's nice to have friends who are cops. Especially when one of them is SWAT and you were in his wedding. As the cops conversed privately for about 25 seconds, Alex and I began to discuss who could bail us out. The cops then returned and said "Okay boys, this is what you are going to do. Turn around...and go that way. Be careful. There's a lot of drunk drivers out tonight."

5 minutes later we were eating cheese steaks at Pat's.

So what did I learn from this experience? When ordering a Pat's it's either "Wiz, wit" or "Wiz, Wit-out."

- Chris

March 1st, 2006
I Am Exhausted

Okay...it's 3:58 AM and I'm still up. Why? Because you people need to see some footage from this weekend. I've basically been going non-stop since Thursday afternoon. This weekend included three amazing shows, Alex and I almost getting arrested in Philadelphia, and little sleep. Those stories will come later. But for now...here's some footage from Thursday's show at THE 9:30 CLUB in Washington DC.

Click on the images below to watch the videos. You'll need Quicktime 7 .

- Chris

The Damnwells
"I've Got You"

Cary Brothers
"Blue Eyes"

The Fray
"Over My Head (Cable Car)"

February 19th, 2006
My Weekend Sucked

I mentioned the other day that things were back on track with the film. Well, they were side tracked. I unfortunately had to go to Boston for a funeral this weekend. My friend's father past away last Sunday. Even though it was a sad weekend, we were still able to have a few laughs. The first laugh came when we were nearly killed by our driver on the way to Boston. Our friend Dierdra decided that she was the least hung over out of everyone and would make a good pilot for the trip up North. Now I don't know about you...but when you're driving through a monsoon with 65 mph winds and 4 ft of visibility, do you drive 90 mph while talking on the phone, drinking coffee, and changing the radio station. As my friend Eddie screamed for his life, we noticed a car heading the same direction we were, only backwards and sliding along the concrete divider. Have you ever seen a bumper fly down the road at you while a car is spinning in circles? It rocks!!!

My trip on the way home was just as memorable. I decided to hitch a ride with a NJ State Trooper. The last words he said before we left were, "We're going 110 the whole way." That wouldn't be so bad if we had directions. Six hours later we were home. Not bad for a 3.5 hour trip going 70 mph with directions.

Anyway...I'm working on the film tonight and thought I'd give you guys something to check out. A couple months back Ted, the bass player, came to me and said "Hey, I have about 20 hrs of footage I've shot over the past couple of years, do you want it?" Of course I said, "Yes." Click on the pictures below to view a performance the band did back in 2002 while on tour with Rhett Miller. I don't know the name of the song they are playing. I have about 200+ Damnwells songs, but I don't have this one. I believe it's called "Easier."

- Chris

February 16th, 2006
Golden Days Goes Online

So for the past couple of weeks I've been reading this book entitled "Film Festival Survival Guide" by Chris Gore. In this book, it states that you should start a website for your film as soon as possible. My last film's website, www.failure-movie.com, was created a week before my first film festival. That was probably a mistake, but FAILURE itself was a learning experience. So this time around I decided to take the knowledge I gained from the last film, the knowledge of others, and get a head start on everything. I don't know how much of a head start this is considering we've been filming for nearly a year.

Anyway, my name is Chris Suchorsky and I'm the director of GOLDEN DAYS. And yes, at the moment, the film is called GOLDEN DAYS. It's been called GOLDEN DAYS for about 8 months. It's tough to label the film with a title at this point considering we don't know where the film is going to take us or what is going to happen next. We could call it This Damn Movie, or This Damn Record. We might even call it Alex Is Tired Of Having A Camera Shoved In His Face. But at the moment, we're calling it Golden Days.

So the basic idea of this website is to create a blog where I have to report in to let you people know what is going on. That way I stop watching reruns of Entourage and focus on editing the film. Everything was going great until 3 weeks ago when I turned 30. I don't really remember much from the past couple of weeks. I do remember BBQing, starting a large fire in my backyard, and drinking Jack Daniels. I also remember drinking Sambuca, Kettle One, Twisted Teas, Miller Lite, and then letting the air out of my neighbors tires. Why? I have no idea.

Anyway, I'm back on track. I'll be posting some images and video clips from the film as I go along. So keep coming back. You never know what you might find here.

- Chris